Paper-baler.



A. E. BEALL.

PAPER BALER.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 11, 1910.

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Patented Sept. 24, 1912.

A. E. BEALL.

PAPER BALER.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 11, 1910.

l 1,039,244; l Patented sept.24,1912.

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COLUMBIA PLANQORAPM CO..WASIHNGTON. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

ALBERT E. BEALL, 0F CLINTON, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO ,Re N. HOWES AND I'I. U.

CROCKETT.

IAPER-BALER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented sept. 24., 1912.

Application led August 11, 1910. Serial No. 576,684.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, ALBERT E. BEALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Clinton, county of Clinton, and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Paper-Balers, of which the following' is a specification.

My invention relatesl to paper balers and has for its object the construction of a baler in which two movable followers are used for compressing the material in the baling chamber. I have also provided simple and eflicient means for simultaneously moving the followers toward each other during the baling operation.

The various advantages of my invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of my invention, showing the interior of the baler; Fig. 2 is an end view of the baler; Fig. 3 is a top view; Fig. 4 is a sectional View taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is a fragmental detail view showing how the cable is clamped to the actuating shaft.

The casing or frame-work of the baler, comprises a pair of end pieces 2 and 3, a removable front piece 4 and a back piece 5. The end pieces are provided with foot members 6 for firmly holding the frame-work in an upright position. As shown in Fig. 2, the end pieces consist each of two members separated by the vertical slot 7. A cross-bar 8 serves to hold the members of the end pieces in firm relation to each other. Partitions 9 and 10 form the end walls of the baling chamber 11. In each of the end chambers, formed between the partitions and the end pieces, is located a short shaft 12.

`This shaft is journaled in bearings 13 and 14 carried by the associated partition. and members, as most clearly shown in Flg. 4.

4As the mechanisms located in the two end chambers are alike, a description of one will .be sufficient for both. A cord or cable 15 over the ends of the bars 16 and 17. It is obvious, however, that any suitable means may be adopted for attaching the cables to the bars. These bars extend longitudinally across the top and bottom of the baling chamber and into the end chambers. Associated with the upper bar 16 is a compression member V18 and associated with the lower bar 17 is a compression member 19. These compression members are loosely associated with their respective actuating bars, and are provided with the grooves 2O on their upper surface to accommodate the actuating bars. The bars 16 and 17, with their associated compression members 18 and 19, constitute the upper and lower followers. If desired, the followers may be made in one piece instead of in two pieces, but I prefer to make them in two pieces because the parts are in that way more readily disassembled. The shafts 12 extend beyond the frame-work at their outer ends where they are each provided with a ratchet wheel 21. The pawl 22 pivoted to the cross-bar 8 at 23, normally engages the teeth of the ratchet wheel 21 and permits the latter to be turned only in the direction in which t-he shaft 12 will cause the followers to move together. The hook-shaped lever 24 affords ready means for operating the ratchet wheel. As seen from F ig. 2 this lever has at its outer end an inwardly turned liooleportion 25, which is adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel. The lever is curved at 26 so as to follow the curvature of the ratchet wheel. In this way a fulcrum is provided for the lever, and by simply pressing down on the outer end of the same, the ratchet wheels will be rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2. Because of the connection between the actuating bars 16 and 17 and the shaft 12, it is obvious that when the ratchet wheels are operated by the lever, the cables will be simultaneously wound up at both ends and the followers will be moved together. When it is desired to release the followersthe pawls 22 are moved out of engagement with the ratchet wheels. To hold the pawls in this their inoperative position, I have provided a latch 27 which engages the free or weighted end of the pawl to hold said weighted end in a raised position.V

To prevent slipping of the cable in the openingin the shaft l2 a` wedge 2S is inserted in the opening, as shown in Fig. 5. The back piece 5 and the opposing surface of the followers, are provided with grooves 29 for accommodating the baling wires. As I have stated, the front of the frame-work is removable. F or securing this front in place I have provided a number of hinged latch members 30, which hook down over the crossbars 31 of the front t, as bestshown in Fig. 2. In order to permit ready access to the upper ends of the two cables I provide the top pieces 32 with cutaway portions 33, as best indicated in F ig. 3. The end pieces have cutaway portions 34 which register with the cutaway portions 33 of the top members 32. In this way the hanl can be readily inserted int-o the framework to slip the looped ends of the cables from the upper bar 16--as when it is desired to remove the upper follower,

The operation of my improved baler will now be readily understood from the above description. rlhe material to be compressed is thrust into the baling chamber from the top. After a sufficient quantity has been put in, the upper follower is inserted through the open top and connected with the operating cables. By means of the hooked lever the ratchet wheels are then given each a turn whereby the two followers are brought together suliiciently to compress the material in the baling chamber. Usually, it will not be necessary to give the ratchet wheels each more than a single turn in order to effect the desired degree of compression. It will thus be seen that I have provided baler which is simple in construction and highly efficient in operation. Although primarily intended for the baling of pap-er, it is obvious that other material, as, for insta-nce hay, may be compressed into bales in my improved form of baler.

l/Vhile I have shown and described one specific form of my invention, I would have it understood that various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing` from the scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims Having thus described my invention whatv I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A baler comprising, in combination, a frame-work having side walls and end walls, an intermediate wall associate-d with each end wall to form therewith an end chamber said intermediate walls having vertical openings, a baling chamber between said end chambers, a pair of followers adapted to operate in said baling chamber to compress the material between them, said followers comprising eacha compression member and an actuating bar, said bars extending from one end chamber to the other across said baling chamber, a rotatable shaft mounted in each end chamber and provided with a transverse opening, said shafts extending longitudinally of the frame-work in axial alinement with each other, a cable passing through said opening and engaging the shaft at a point midway of the cable,

`whereby'rotatiou of the shaft causes both ends of the associated cable to be wound upon the shaft or unwound therefrom, the free ends of each cable being adapted for attachment to said bars, a ratchet wheel secured to each shaft, a hook-shaped hand lever for engaging said ratchet wheels to actuate the same, so that the followers are simultaneously moved toward each other, and means for preventing reverse rotation of said shafts.

2. A baler comprising in combination, a frame-work having side walls and end walls, an intermediate wall having vertical openings in its upper and lower portions associated with each end wall to form therewith an end chamber, said intermediate wall forming the end walls of the baling chamber, a pair of followers adapted to operate in said baling chamber to compress the material between them, a rotatable shaft journaled in each end wall and the associated intermediate wall substant-ially midway of the end chambers, said shafts extending longitudinally of the frame-work in axial alinement with each other, connections in said end chambers between said shafts and said followers, so that rotation of said shafts causes the followers to move toward each other simultaneously, and means on the out side of said end chambers for operating said shafts.

3. A baler comprising in combination, a frame-work having side walls and end walls, an intermediate wall having vertical openings in its upper and lower portions associated with each end wall to form therewith an end chamber, said intermediate walls forming the end walls of the baling chamber, a pair of followers adapted to operate in said baling chamber to compress the material between them a rotatable shaft journaled in each end wall and the associated intermediate wall substantially midway of the end chambers, said shafts extending longitudinally of the frame-work in axial alinement with each other, the outer ends of said shafts projecting beyond the end walls of the frame-work, connections in said end chambers between said shafts and said followers, so that rotation of the shafts causes the followers to move simultaneously toward each other, a lever wheel fixed to the outer end of each shaft on the outside of said end chambers, and a hand lever having acurved portion adapted to engage the periphery of the ratchet wheels when applied thereto, said curved portion terminating in a hook to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheels for actuating said shafts, and means for preventing reverse rotation of said shafts.

t. A baler comprising, in combination a frame-work having side walls and end walls, an intermediate wall associated with each end wall to form therewith an end chamber, said intermediate walls having-vertical openings said intermediate walls forming the end walls of the baling chamber, a follower adapted to operate in said chamber to compress the material therein, a rotatable shaft journaled in each end wall and the associated intermediate wall substantially midway of the end chambers, said shafts extending longitudinally of the frame-work in axial alinement with each other, connections in said end chambers between said shafts and said follower, so that rotation of the shafts lowers the follower, and means outside of said end chambers for operating said shafts.

5. In a baler, a frame-wort having end walls and side walls, a pair of end chambers and a central baling chamber arranged between said end walls and having vertical side openings, a follower movable in said baling chamber to compress the material therein, a shaft journaled in each end chamber longitudinally of the frame-work, operative connections housed in said end chambers between said followers and said shafts, and means on the outside of said end chambers for operating said shafts.

6. In a baler, a frame-work having end walls and side walls, a pair of end chambers and a central baling chamber arranged between said end walls said central chamber having vertical side openings, a pair of followers movable in said baling chamber to compress the material between them, a shaft journaled in each end chamber longitudinally of the frame-work, operative connections housed in said end chambers between said followers and said shafts, means out side of said end chamber for operating said shafts, and means for preventing reverse rotation of said shafts.

7 A baler comprising, in combination, a framework having side walls and end walls, an intermediate wall associated with each end wall to form therewith an end chamber, said intermediate walls each having vertical openings and forming the end walls of the baling chamber, a follower adapted to operate in said baling chamber to compress the material therein, a bearino` plate secured to each end wall and each intermediate wall, said four bearing plates being in axial alinement with each other, a shaft journaled in each pair of plates, the outer ends of said shafts projecting, beyond the end walls of the frame-work, connections housed in said end chambers between said shafts and said follower for moving the latter downwardly when the shafts are rotated, a ratchet wheel fixed to the outer end of each shaft, outside of said end chambers, a retaining pawl associated with each ratchet wheel to prevent reverse rotation of the shafts, and a hand lever for actuating said ratchet Wheels to lower the follower.

ALBERT E. BEALL.

Witnesses:

J. E. FINK, MARGARET G. MULLIGAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

